WNPS restores ‘Great Elephant Gathering of Minneriya’

THE ‘Great Elephant Gathering of Minneriya, the largest annual migration of Asian elephants in the world, is a unique natural phenomenon that has occurred over hundreds of years by the Minneriya and Kaudulla Tanks.

- 

It is a concentrated and dense gathering of a large number of elephants at the same time on the grasslands of Minneriya, during the dry season, from May to October of each year, with the peak in elephant numbers reaching over 400 generally around September. The numbers start reducing with the onset of the North East monsoon rains in late October.

This natural phenomenon occurs only in Sri Lanka, and has gained global reputation rated as “one of the 10 greatest wildlife wonders of the world” by ‘Lonely Planet,’ and listed as one of the top wildlife spectacles of the world by CNN.

Scientific findings have proven the reason for this phenomenon to be the annual emergence of the Minneriya lakebed in the dry season starting from May, when a substantial part of the lakebed remains devoid of water. With the reduction of the water in the Minneriya Reservoir, the lakebed, which has been submerged for several months, emerges, providing a rich and prolific surface for the growth of fresh grass, which is higher in protein and minerals than mature grass.

It is these fresh grasslands, which are higher in protein and minerals, that attract the elephants in large numbers to the site of the Minneriya lakebed. And when the monsoon rains and water releases from the cascade reservoir system fill the Minneriya Reservoir and the grasslands of the lakebed get submerged during the period from December to April, the Gathering reduces to renew and increase yet again in May when the lakebed with the new grasslands emerge.

The Gathering is unsurpassed among the 13 Asian Elephant range states in its ranking as a unique site not only to observe large herds of elephants, but also for observation of elephant social behaviour, attracting tourists, wildlife enthusiasts, environmentalists, and researchers, both foreign and domestic, in tens of thousands each year.